Business travellers nervous about data security

Research by CWT finds 65% of travellers are not confident their company's data is secure when they go abroad.

Just 35% of business travellers feel confident about the security of their data when they go abroad for work, according to research commissioned by CWT.

When travelling, the three situations in which respondents were most concerned about exposing company data were: their laptops or other mobile devices being lost or stolen (29%); using public Wi-Fi (21%); and working on their laptop or other mobile devices (9%).

One statistic likely to cause minor heart palpitations for most IT professionals: 37% of people admitted to downloading an unknown file from an unrecognised sender – and the same percentage opened a phishing email.

Fortunately, most business travellers took action when they became aware of a security or data breach. Around 37% of surveyed travellers claimed to have immediately shut down their device, 25% reported it to their company, and more than a third notified their company’s IT department.

"These results show there is still a lot to do around educating travellers on how to look after their company’s data," said Andrew Jordan, CWT’s executive vice president & chief technology officer.

"For instance, connectivity in public spaces can put company data at risk. Awareness and training are key to protecting against any possible security breaches."

Less than 20% of business travellers said that they received frequent and formal communication and guidance about data and internet security from their company, while 34% said they received some guidance on what not to do.